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Digital Images

DP 175374

Dr Colin Martin (left), the Project Director, confers on site with Dr David Macfadyen (right), who found the 12th century boat timber in 2000.With them is Gavin Parsons of Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the Gaelic College on Skye, who is advising on place-name studies and other local cultural issues. (Edward Martin)

DP 175366

Attempts have been made to search the shallow loch bed, since it is likely that further early boat components will be found there. The simplest method has been to use a small inflatable raft pulled along rope lanes stretched across the loch by a snorkeller. (Colin Martin)

DP 175336

The upper canal leading into Loch na h-Airde, with the blockage part-way along it. The left-hand revetment is relatively intact, but that on the right appears to have been dismantled to its foundations and the stones thrown onto the bank. Tradition asserts that this was done to bring larger vessels into the loch. Scale 2 metres. (Colin Martin)

DP 175373

Dr Colin Martin (left), the Project Director, confers on site with Dr David Macfadyen (right), who found the 12th century boat timber in 2000.With them is Gavin Parsons of Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the Gaelic College on Skye, who is advising on place-name studies and other local cultural issues. (Edward Martin)

DP 175370

Trials have been made using sector scanning to search the loch bed for archaeological features. The equipment is seen here being positioned. Results so far have been encouraging, but a more sustained programme is required. (Colin Martin)

DP 175365

Attempts have been made to search the shallow loch bed, since it is likely that further early boat components will be found there. The simplest method has been to use a small inflatable raft pulled along rope lanes stretched across the loch by a snorkeller. (Colin Martin)

DP 175340

DP 175335

The upper canal leading into Loch na h-Airde, with the blockage part-way along it. The left-hand revetment is relatively intact, but that on the right appears to have been dismantled to its foundations and the stones thrown onto the bank. Tradition asserts that this was done to bring larger vessels into the loch. (Colin Martin)

DP 175315

DP 175297

Aerial photograph of the headland fort and canal from the SW. Underwater indications of a stone-built quay can be seen on either side of the canal’s entry to the loch. Beyond the canal entrance a basin of deeper water largely clear of weed is visible. (Colin Martin)

DP 175367

Attempts have been made to search the shallow loch bed, since it is likely that further early boat components will be found there. The simplest method has been to use a small inflatable raft pulled along rope lanes stretched across the loch by a snorkeller. (Colin Martin)

DP 175355

DP 175346

Treenail, or wooden fastening peg, from a boat component discovered at the N end of the loch by Dr David MacFadyen in 2000 which has been C14-dated to around 1100 AD. The treenail has been tightened with a wedge. Scale in centimetres. (Colin Martin)

DP 175345

Boat component discovered at the N end of the loch by Dr David Macfadyen in 2000. It is a bite, part of a small four-oared boat of Norse type, and has been C14-dated to around 1100 AD. Scale 50 centimetres. (Colin Martin)

DP 175308

DP 175304

The Slochd Dubh – Black Dyke – a stone wall running from one side of the Rubh’ an Dùnain peninsula to the other, evidently defining a territorial boundary. Though the present wall is relatively modern its line shows modifications and traces of earlier structures, and the line may be of some antiquity. (Colin Martin)

DP 175353

DP 175351

Fast, comfortable access is available – at a price – by rigid inflatable boat from Elgol. This occasion, in 2012, was underwritten by the BBC, who were making a programme. At centre is Dr Jon Henderson (University of Nottingham) who was presenting the programme and providing expertise on the archaeology of the site. On the right is Edward Martin, who has been developing drone photography and photographic rectification for the project. (Colin Martin)

DP 175318

DP 175305

The Slochd Dubh – Black Dyke – a stone wall running from one side of the Rubh’ an Dùnain peninsula to the other, evidently defining a territorial boundary. Though the present wall is relatively modern its line shows modifications and traces of earlier structures, and the line may be of some antiquity. (Colin Martin)

DP 175294

Aerial photograph of the Rubh’ an Dùnain peninsula from the W, with the Cuillin Hills rising in the background. Loch na h-Airde is close to the tip of the peninsula. Loch Brittle is on the left, with Glenbrittle at its head. (Edward Martin)

DP 175375

This site has elicited much interest and discussion from heritage agencies and others. Here, seated on the remains of a Neolithic chambered cairn overlooking Loch na h-Airde in September 2013, an informal international seminar is taking place. From left, Philip Robertson (Historic Scotland), George Geddes (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland), Edward Martin (archaeological photographer), and Dr Ian MacLeod (Western Australian Museum). Behind the camera is Dr Colin Martin (University of St Andrews). (Colin Martin)

DP 175354

DP 175348

Top and side views of the bite found at the N end of the loch by Dr David Macfadyen in 2000. Below is a reconstruction of how it might have fitted into the midships section of a four-oared boat of the Norse faering type. (Colin Martin)

DP 175344

Boat component discovered at the N end of the loch by Dr David MacFadyen in 2000. It is a bite, part of a small four-oared boat of Norse type, and has been C14-dated to around 1100 AD. Scale 50 centimetres. (Colin Martin)

DP 175302

DP 175296

Aerial photograph of the headland fort and canal from the SE. Underwater indications of a stone-built quay can be seen on either side of the canal’s entry to the loch. Beyond the canal entrance a basin of deeper water largely clear of weed is visible. (Colin Martin)

DP 175295

Aerial photograph of the W tip of the Rubh an Dùnain peninsula showing Loch na h-Airde and the canal linking it to the sea. The islet of Sgeir Mhòr provides a sheltered anchorage beyond the canal's mouth. (Colin Martin)

Administrative Areas

Recording Your Heritage Online

At the toe of this remote promontory, bounded by Loch Brittle and the Sound of Soay and reached only by a lonely track, lies a rich palimpsest of archaeological remains testifying to the former significance of Rubh' an Dunain. Chambered cairn, probably 2nd or 3rd millennium bc, a Neolithic passage grave. To its south, one of best preserved survivals of an Iron Age promontory fort (or galleried dun), with a portion of curved drystone wall to landward, possibly 1st millennium bc. A stone-lined canal, possibly Viking, connects a sheltered inlet to a small lochan, suitable for harbouring birlinns. Small former township, with round-ended ruin of early-mid 18th century tacksman's house, a two-storey chimney gable at one end. Still occupied in the 1860s, this was the home of the MacAskills of Rubh' an Dunain.

Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk

Archaeology Notes

On the side of the 'canal' there are what appear to be two substantial boat noosts. There is no indication as to the origins of the canal or the purpose of the combined loch and canal, or their relationship with the dun (NG31NE 1), but future sampling and survey underwater in the loch may help to clarify the situation.

TN Dixon 1990b.

A single unroofed building is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire, Isle of Skye 1881, sheet xlix). What may be the same unroofed building is shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1986).

Activities

Field Visit (23 April 2009 - 9 May 2009)

NG 394 162 (centred on) An assessment survey was conducted 23 April–9 May 2009 following the discovery of medieval boat timbers on the northern edge of Loch na h-Àirde in 2000 and 2008. An aerial photography sortie facilitated by RCAHMS was conducted on 31 May 2009. Detailed surveys were conducted on the partly artificial channel 100m long which links the loch to the sea. Associated features include two nausts (stone-lined boat docks) which extend from its N side, close to the seaward end, and the tumbled foundations of at least three buildings. A promontory dun stands on a headland nearby (NG 396 159). Close to the centre of the canal is a blockage of stones, now tumbled but showing evidence of former structural cohesion. The margin of the loch follows the High Spring Tide contour, though its fill derives mainly from the surrounding catchment and is therefore partly fresh, with seawater entering only during extreme high tides. Although water now percolates through the blockage, the level in the loch remains largely constant throughout the tidal cycle.

A systematic search of the loch bed, most of which is less than 1.5m deep, was conducted with masks and snorkels. No further boat components were found, but a partly collapsed stone-built quay, now almost completely under water, extends on either side of the canal’s inshore mouth, with a gap in the middle. It was surmised that the canal was constructed so that vessels could be brought into and out of the loch, and water levels managed so that while there they would remain afloat throughout the tide, facilitating mooring or use of the quay. Since the process of bringing vessels into and out of the loch would have been quite complex, it seems likely that the system was intended for the secure over-wintering of craft, or for maintenance and perhaps boatbuilding on the loch’s shores.

One of the boat timbers found in the loch was probably from a clinker-built four-oared rowing boat c6m long. It has been radiocarbon dated to AD c1100. The other undated timber appears to be from a larger sailing vessel in the same tradition, perhaps more than 10m long. Neither craft could have had a local function in this tiny shallow loch, and were presumably there for safe-keeping or repair, or were being built. This implies that from at least the early 12th century the canal, blockage, and quay system, or some precursor of them, were in operation. Study of this remarkable maritime landscape is continuing, with research focused on determining the dates, associations and functions of the various features, including the dun.

NG 3959 1595 The work on the peninsula, begun in 2009 (DES 2009, 92–93), continued on 15–17 May 2010 with a survey of the galleried dun. The 30m curving wall, in places up to 5m high, bounds a precipitous rocky headland now c225sqm in extent. On all three exposed sides there is evidence of major rockfalls on the foreshore below, while both E and W ends are disintegrating over the edge. The extent to which these processes have diminished the structure and the promontory beyond is unquantifiable but probably considerable. In view of its massive monumental architecture and the probability that the enclosed area was significantly greater than it is today, it is suggested that the monument is best categorised not as a ‘dun’ but as a ‘headland fort’.

Further examination of the adjacent canal feature revealed a distinctive change of build in the W revetment about half-way along its length, at NG 3945 1600. The seaward sector is built of long slabs laid horizontally while the upper sector leading into the loch is of smaller rounded rubble. This suggests two phases, the first linking the two boat nausts below the fort to the sea and the second continuing the canal into the loch. Although the stones of the fort wall are similar to those of the lower canal revetment, they do not appear to have been robbed. This suggests either that the fort, lower canal, and nausts are contemporary, or (perhaps more probably) that when the latter two features were built an already existing fort was retained as part of the overall scheme. A terminus post quem for the upper canal is provided by a boat timber from the loch which has been radiocarbon dated to AD c1100.